The cult of plastic surgery

 Is there a cult of plastic surgery in the 21st century?

According to The Aesthetic Surgery Society, the number of surgical procedures in 2021 increased by 54% in the United States alone. In Canada, the leading plastic surgery procedures are Botox and rhinoplasty. Although cosmetic surgery is available to everyone, women perform 94% of all procedures.

As it turns out, plastic surgery is an object of interest, regardless of age. As many as 43% of school-age patients admit that they want to undergo more surgeries in the future, which shows the huge scale of not only the fashion for plastic surgery, but also the lack of acceptance for one's own body.

Is aesthetic medicine a modern invention?

The concept of aesthetic medicine covers a group of treatments performed on the human body, aimed at restoring or improving the natural appearance. Such techniques include dental, dermatological and cosmetic treatments, as well as plastic surgery.

Treatments aimed at modifying the human body have been known for millennia. In the 6th century BC nose, ear and mouth reconstructions were carried out in India, while in China, from the 10th century AD, women's feet were reduced because the ideal then was a woman with small legs. In the 19th century, face lifts were performed in Great Britain, often resulting in the patient's death due to the materials used, i.e. a solution of arsenic and lead. Marilyn Monroe also owed her face and image to plastic surgery - to make her face more shapely, a kind of implant, which was a sponge, was sewn into her chin.

The trends we observe today show that medicine has gone beyond reparative functions, understood as providing help to people in need. Today, activities in the field of aesthetic medicine very often "repair normality". The treatments are not so much about removing bodily dysfunctions, but about perceiving the body as not being good enough, despite being fully functional. Therefore, instead of accepting their appearance, some people decide to undergo invasive treatments to change their appearance and thus improve their self-concept. However, one should ask oneself here - does plastic medicine, the aim of which is to eliminate uncertainty about one's own body, not raise this uncertainty again?

Nowadays, appearance has become a kind of calling card of a person. It can even provide information about your economic, professional, family or social position. Fashionable clothing, hairstyles, makeup, body shape and body structure promoted in the media indicate how the ideal of a woman and a man is defined. It is the press, television, cinema, the showbiz industry and the Internet that determine what is now fashionable and desirable in appearance. Just as in the past, advertisements showed that you can become someone better by using, for example, a specific slimming product, now the media shows that to achieve a state of fulfillment, all you need to do is undergo plastic surgery.

People (especially young people), based on such an image, try to live up to contemporary canons. However, if you do not have the right amount of money, like Bella Hadid, who is known for her spectacular transformation, you may be a bit frustrated... Because it depends on your economic status whether you can afford such a transformation.

The body has become an item of possessions, not a part of a person.

What we can notice in today's world is that the body is no longer treated as something permanent and unchanging. Currently, it is a project that needs to be constantly improved.

In the early 2000s, the American music station MTV broadcast a program called "I Want a Famous Face", in which very young people, both girls and boys, undergo surgery to look like famous people. The format instilled in the participants the idea that along with their new appearance, they would also receive the fame, prestige and wealth of the stars they resembled.

But what is not said about plastic surgery? Too little attention is paid to the side effects and consequences of such treatments. How does it look in the media? Operations are primarily glorified and identified only with advantages. The exception is the "I want to have a famous face" program, where each case of a successful procedure is "balanced" by the testimony of a person whose surgery caused undesirable side effects.

As Magdalena Wieczorkowska, head of the Department of Sociology at the Medical University of Lodz, rightly notes, in the modern world we can observe the phenomenon of a split perspective on medicine. In common discourse, it is said that every surgery carries the risk of complications and unwanted side effects, while on the other hand, aesthetic medicine treatments are advertised as minimally invasive, harmless and leaving no permanent marks on the body.

So you might get the impression that these are two different medicines. One of them is life-saving medicine, difficult, complicated, painful and high-risk. The second one is a world of painless treatments, nice and caring staff, free of risk, pain and threats. This split is as bad for patients as it is for medicine itself. And this second method of imaging procedures can be found very often, among others: on social media.

Of course, the cult of plastic surgery and its glorification in the media has various consequences. This is primarily the risk of addiction to plastic surgery, which is a behavioral addiction. One of the most striking examples of the excessive use of such procedures is the character of the eccentric Catwoman - Jocelyn Wildenstein. As a young woman of delicate beauty, over time she began to dream of having more feline features. It ended with a grotesque effect and the loss of a huge amount of money.

Plastic surgery may also involve the risk of psychological problems for both the patient and his immediate surroundings. Many people think that after the procedure not only their appearance will change, but also their character and personality, and financial, marital and social problems will disappear. However, the clash with reality may turn out to be brutal, because (as mentioned earlier) many aesthetic treatments result not from the need to repair a real defect, but from the need to feel better and accept yourself. Let us remember, however, that acceptance is a psychological process that takes place deep in our mind and it is difficult to replace it only with an external change - i.e. surgery.

Another possible consequence of the growing cult of surgery is the increase in social inequality and polarization between the rich and the poor. Because, as we said earlier, aesthetic medicine treatments are today synonymous with high social and material status. This is even reflected in the popular and quite cheeky air "There are no unattractive people, only poor people."

The financial consequences are also worth emphasizing - sometimes a given treatment must be repeated to improve or maintain a satisfactory effect. In addition, there are also consequences related to setting ideals of beauty and success, and thus redefining interpersonal relationships, which are no longer based on knowledge, experience, views or interests, but are determined by external appearance. Excessive focus on appearance and constant improvement may also be associated with moral consequences, i.e. blurring the line between what is real and natural and what is artificial and created.

As psychologist Joanna Węglarz argues, more and more people use aesthetic medicine treatments, including teenagers of both sexes, for whom body image is a very important element of self-perception.

It is difficult to draw the line between necessary treatments that are part of therapy and whimsy. In the latter case, after the first surgery it may be difficult to stop and say "stop". – she explained. – According to research, people who have low self-esteem and perceive their value through the prism of others' judgments are often put under the scalpel. In such cases, it is worth going to therapy instead of going to a surgeon, because plastic surgery usually does not improve self-esteem in the long run.

But why exactly do people decide to undergo plastic surgery? Research indicates primarily the influence of the media, evolutionary interests and personal factors related to the patient. An interesting example here is Michael Jackson, who began his adventure with surgery at a very young age. His desire to change his appearance resulted from hatred towards his father, whom he was very similar to.

Nowadays, there is great technological progress in the field of plastic surgery. This progress has naturally made it safer and less invasive, provides faster recovery times, and lowers the cost of procedures. This has led to people being less afraid of the consequences of having them carried out at home.

Another reason is the obvious influence of the Internet, including social media, on the perception of one's own body. Creating a certain ideal of women and men has led to some people starting to notice flaws in themselves that they had not seen before, which led to general dissatisfaction with their appearance. Various aesthetic treatments have become a simple means to get rid of this dissatisfaction. Social media set all kinds of trends and standards because people have quick access to the latest looks of stars and influencers they follow, e.g. on Instagram, especially created for commercial purposes.

However, it is not the case that appearance-changing surgeries are only a subjective invention of individual people. Very often, surgeries are a response to urgent needs, for health reasons, as plastic surgery can be a method of treating many diseases - e.g. rhinoplasty can improve breathing, and eyelid surgery allows for better vision. Another cause may be congenital defects or simply aversion to certain body features. An example of such a modification would be the plastic surgery of protruding ears.

People also decide to undergo such operations for very prosaic reasons. They want to increase their self-esteem and self-confidence, which is associated with the desire to gain social approval.

The purpose of this episode is to make you aware of how important the pursuit of the perfect appearance is in today's world. Motivations for undergoing plastic surgery may vary. However, it is worth remembering to exercise moderation and common sense, as in every area of life.

Sources:

1.BELLA HADID – THE TRUTH BEHIND THE GLOW UP (online) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHYbl-oHGds [access date: October 20, 2023].

2. CBOS, Research report: Are we satisfied with our appearance?, No. 104/2017, https://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2017/K_104_17.PDF. 

3. Gawron D., The impact of beauty treatments on the assessment of one's appearance and mood in middle-aged women, "Psychologia Jakości Życia" 2013, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 97-110.